John Deere Sets World Record With Combine Constructed From Canned Food

(NAPSI)—It’s a new world record! John Deere’s Project “Can Do” created a
full-sized combine made entirely from food—308,448 cans of food and 11,268 bags
of food, to be exact. According to Guinness® World Records, that’s a new record
for the largest sculpture ever built from canned food.

The combine can-food sculpture, which is 60 ft. wide, 80 ft. long, 16 ft.
tall and weighs approximately 170 tons, recognizes the vital role America’s
farmers play in feeding the world. The sculpture depicts John Deere’s new
S-Series Combine harvesting corn and showcases how new equipment and
technologies are helping farmers meet the growing world demand for food.

The can sculpture was built November 12−17 by a team of 450 John Deere
volunteers, including employees, retirees, employee families and friends. The
can-food sculpture took more than 1,800 hours to build and contains more than 15
different kinds of canned food, as well as 11,268 bags of popcorn, peas and
beans. The sculpture was on display at the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Ill., until December 12.

This full-sized combine is the largest sculpture ever built of canned food--all of which was donated to needy families.

“Project ‘Can Do’ gave our employees, retirees and their families a
tremendous sense of accomplishment and pride in being part of this goodwill
effort,” says Nicole Schneider, project co-leader/copywriter for John Deere Ag
& Turf Division. “We are all thrilled with the success of this project and
that all the food was donated to help those in need. In fact, for every
volunteer who worked on the build, one person in need will be fed for one year
with all the donated food.”

Richard Williamson, project co-leader/art director for John Deere Ag &
Turf Division, says the project is considered a zero-landfill project with all
of the building materials being recycled or reused. In addition, he credits
several organizations for supporting the company’s efforts to create the world’s
largest can-food sculpture.

“The project wouldn’t have been possible without technical help from a number
of organizations,” Williamson adds. “Those include Canstruction®, Inc., which organizes canstruction competitions worldwide; the Chicago architectural firm
RTKL, Inc., that led the design and construction of the project; and Hy-Vee Food
Stores, which helped source and deliver all the cans of food.”

During the construction phase of the project, John Deere fans from around the
world participated by designing “virtual cans” and submitting them via the John
Deere Facebook page. Photographs and videos about the
project and its construction can be found at www.Facebook.com/JohnDeere.

On December 12 all the food was donated to River Bend Foodbank, which serves families in the Quad Cities and 22
counties in Iowa and Illinois.